Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Joseph Otting — head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — once again defended the agency’s decision not to release the names of the 40 banks it found had engaged in questionable account-opening practices.

Senators weren’t buying his line.

“I understand all about classified information. This isn’t classified,” an irate Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said to Otting.

“I have to ask myself, who are you trying to protect? … Hardworking American families or big banks?” Menendez asked, accusing the comptroller of “shilling for the banks.”

Menendez was one of eight senators — including ranking member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — to sign a letter to Otting ahead of the hearing demanding more information.

Otting said the release of the confidential information at this time would be “inappropriate.”

The OCC concluded its investigation into account-opening procedures at the nation’s largest banks late last year. It uncovered 20,000 accounts at 40 banks that either had procedural problems or were opened without the clients’ consent.